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To play the first episode of the FunRover podcast, you can directly download the MP3, here. You can also access the RSS Feed here.

Hello and welcome to the first ever FunRover Land Rover podcast, the official podcast of FunRover.com. This is the show for and about Land Rover owners and the place to get the latest fill of news, reviews and updates from the wide-world that is Land Rovers. Over the course of the forthcoming series of episodes, we hope to include interviews, chats and input from our listeners. The podcast is produced by FunRover.com, a Blog dedicated to providing the best Land Rover related posts around. Check us out online at FunRover.com and feel free to stop by in the comments.

News

And now we move to the news section, all good for Land Rover this time, with the copious amounts of snow been dropped on the UK boosting sales and general good PR. Let’s take a look at some of the news stories in more depth.
Snow sees increased Land Rover demand
Land Rover Brand Director, John Edwards, appeared on BBC News Live to talk about Land Rovers and their practicality in winter as well as in general. John handled the interview well and dispelled a few typical ‘anti 4x4’ questions from the interviewer.

Speaking of Snow, Land Rover have basically come to the rescue of the whole country, having donated and loaned over 50 vehicles in the bad weather for use by charities and emergency services to get to those who are truly in need.

One such charity is the Red Cross, who've taken delivery of 30 Land Rover’s in 2008 and recently accepted 30 life-saving automated external defibrillators - that will help increase the vehicles effectiveness in the bad weather. Over the last snowy spell, they answered hundreds of call-outs, thanks to their new fleet of kitted out Defenders. There’s a video available on YouTube, which features interviews with members of the Red Cross, including the Land Rover response teams and one carer who directly benefitted from one of the donated Land Rovers. You can view the video by following the link in the show notes.

These are just a few snippets of how Land Rover UK and Land Rover owners have been working hard at keeping everyone moving and helping those in desperate need. It’s nice too see, and if you search for “Land Rover Snow” or “Land Rover Snow rescues” on YouTube, you’ll see countless videos of plucky Landy drivers towing, pulling and pushing vehicles to safety, ranging from Fiat Puntos to Arctic lorries.

Another group of Land Rover owners who definitely deserve a shout out are the 4x4 Response teams, who’ve been working very hard over the last few weeks in the bad weather, assisting emergency services and generously donating their own time and vehicles, all unpaid. Many of the volunteers have had more than one all-nighters and their hard work is much appreciated by us here at FunRover, as well as the country in general. It’s a great advert for Land Rovers reputation and shows not every 4x4 driver is a countryside munching, fuel burning demon. Well done guys and girls for all your efforts. The brilliant part of the 4x4 Response network, anybody can join. Of course, it helps if you have a Land Rover (even Freelanders count) and some basic off-roading knowledge. It’s suggested too that you carry some basic recovery equipment and know your way around your vehicle. For more information you can visit: http://www.4x4response.info/

Land Rover ‘has top residual value’

A recent industry study by Glass revealed that 3 Land Rover models featured in the top 10 cars with high retained value, during the first three years when bought from new. The Freelander 2 GS TD4 (on a 57 plate) came fourth, a Disco 3 2.7 TDV6 came in sixth and the Range Rover Sport 2.7 TDV6 was a reputable 9th. This is put down to the fact, that despite the recession, the values have been kept high due to demand for ‘capable vehicles in the severe winters and difficult driving conditions seen over the last few years”.

Adrian Rushmore of Glass's said: "The British love affair with the 4x4 has meant residual values of several models have remained high.
"Besides the aspirational appeal of the Land Rover brand, consumers have remembered how well their Land Rovers performed in the extreme winter weather last year and this has also impacted positively on their residual value. "

"With excellent residual values and finance offers available across the range, ownership of cars has never been so appealing."

It would seem not only is buying a Land Rover a very exciting move to make, it’s also very sensible. It’s a wonder why people buy any other form of car.
That said, there are still people who feel that 4x4s are the devil and hate them profusely. Perhaps it for that reason Land Rover have developed a special edition Discovery 4 with vehicle armor specialists, Centigon. This new armored model is capable of handling a 15KG TNT (or equivalent explosive in close proximity to the vehicle). Underfloor protection can withstand the power of two 2 x DM 51 hand grenades . The Armored Disco 4 also gets an all new 5.0 Litre petrol V8, to power it’s additional weight (the vehicle now tips the scale at 3.5 tonnes). It also required uprated air suspension and bigger allcon brakes. Despite all these changes, the 0-62 time goes up, from 7.9 seconds to 10.6. That’s perhaps with no help from the more luxuriously decked cabin space. That’s still a pretty respectable time, and when your been chased by a load of insurgents should give you enough to either out run them, or just stop and smash into them. However, the best part of this James Bond Land Rover has to be the list of optional extras, that will make you feel like knight rider. Hidden flashing blue lights and sirens can be fitted behind the grill, and the essential armor pack includes a driver’s window that can be opened 100mm to allow documents to passed into or from the car, a secondary battery supply, anti-tamper exhaust and an intercom. You can also have an under bonnet fire suppressant system, tinted windows and a heavy duty jack for replacing the vehicles run flat, heavy duty wheels and tyres.

Thanks for listening to the FunRover podcast. If you’re after more Land Rover related content, then check out the blog at FunRover.com, which features daily posts on all things Land Rover

I have to admit an association, I was born about 3 miles away from Lode Lane and got my first taste of LR fun as a very young lad getting chucked around in the back of an uncle’s Series canvas top. Still miss the real beer over there, but have just (in the last 24 hrs) found a microbrewery locally that knocks out something that resembles Bitter – just off to the shops to buy a bottle or 6. Feedback post tasting if you’re interested. K.

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FunRover is a place for Land Rover enthusiasts to gather as a community and discuss the best 4x4 vehicles ever produced. We're building a library of high quality resources & articles to help owners along in their Land Rover ownership.